Rainbows End Chapter 2
Rainbows End Chapter 2 Two days after Kate returned to Fairwood Park, Adam Kimmerle died in his sleep. He was mourned and buried three days later. After the funeral and the attendant things to be done, Kate sat down in the study of the huge Kimmerle home. She and Michelle had grown up there and they were now so far apart. She thought about what had happened to their lives. I just don't understand why it's become so much of a war, Kate thought, Michelle and I have never fought like this. Now, the two of us are at war. She will not relent, and I admit, neither will I. But I do not have the Franklin money behind me, like Michelle does. And she is upset that I installed Walt as editor over her friend, Jessica. Kate sipped her coffee, and she took it to the kitchen. She was looking over the Kimmerle holdings. Now she was the executor of the estate. Michelle was infuriated when that was done. She hated the fact that Kate was a whiz with the family holdings. She felt that since she was married into the prominent Franklin family that she should have been the executor, but given that Kate was always the favored daughter, it was clear that she was always taking care of things. Kate was executor of her mother's will, and now she is executor of their father's will. Meanwhile, at the Franklin mansion. Michelle was enraged. She was exceedingly angry that her sister trumped her once again "This is not fair!" she screamed, "I've lived in this town my whole life, and Kate would make visits when she had time off from Washington, and look at her, she is named executor of the will. She did it with Mom's will, which I understood, given that she was Mom's namesake, but Dad?! This is unjust!" "Michelle," Chris said reasonably, "do you think that there was a reason WHY your dad named Kate as the executor? For one thing, she is very responsible. She is taking a leave of absence from her job, a job that she loves, to help out here. You've offered her no help, all you do is complain and scream that she is undermining your legacy; you're angry that she hired someone to be editor of the paper that isn't your snobbish friend, Jessica. Give her some slack. She knows what she is doing, darling. And after all, she is your sister." "I am SO tired of everyone extolling Kate!" Michelle raged, "Kate is everyone's favorite! She was Mom and Dad's favorite; her teachers adored her; hell, even John Asquith adores her! When will I get that adoration?!" "You have that, Michelle," Chris said patiently, "you have me. Doesn't that mean anything to you?" Michelle looked at him dismissively, "Does that matter anything to me?" she sniffed. Chris was hurt, "Obviously it doesn't," he said sadly, "I can't believe that I even married you. I still love you, Michelle and you are shutting me out." "You are not on my side," Michelle raged, "you are siding with Kate. EVERYONE sides with Kate. I am going over to Jessica's apartment. At least SHE knows where her loyalties lie." With that parting shot, Michelle stormed out of their room and grabbed her coat. She grabbed her keys off the dresser and went to her car, a hot red Impala and drove over to an apartment building over by the lakefront. It was there that her best friend, Jessica Hudson lived. Jessica was an old friend of Michelle's and she had never gotten along well with Kate. "Chelle," Jessica said, "are you all right? I knew something was up when I heard that Kate had come back." "Damn her!" Michelle howled, "My sister never quits. She is always the golden girl! I hate her!" "Don't tell me," Jessica said, "I didn't get the job." "That's right," Michelle said, "my stupid sister put Walt Sullivan as editor!" "Walt Sullivan?" Jessica said. "He worked at the paper for a long time," Michelle said, "my stupid father thought him good enough that he would be an editor of the paper!" "Now, wait a minute here, Chelle," Jessica said, "I thought Kate was going back to Washington?" "I did too," Michelle moaned, "but no. She's staying in town, and she's gonna get the paper in shape." "I thought you were gonna close it down," Jessica was confused, "You were the one who was irate with the paper here in Fairwood Park." "I know," Michelle snapped, "thanks to my father and my stupid sister, my plans have been foiled!" "What about Chris?" Jessica asked, "Can't he help?" "No!" Michelle said angrily, "My 'darling' husband is on Kate's side!" "He's not interested in KATE, is he?" Jessica asked. "No," Michelle said, "more like she is not interested in him. Which I will give Kate credit for." "When did they become such buddy-buddy?" Jessica asked. "Chris and Kate were always friendly," Michelle said, "I know she tried to make sure we stayed married, but I don't like it that he still is friendly towards her." "Well, I don't know what else to tell you," Jessica said, "I didn't get the job, and your plan to close the paper has been scuttled." Michelle sat on the divan, she was dejected. Meanwhile, at the Kimmerle house, John Asquith was sitting and sipping coffee with Kate. "Any word from your sister?" John asked her. "No," Kate said, "Not unless it is that I dropped dead, then she would be celebrating." "Man, I don't get it, Kate," John said, "when you two were little, you were close, now you two despise one another." "Michelle has always hated me," Kate said, "because I was older. I concentrated more in school, and she only saw school as a place to socialize. She never cracked a book, but always thought she could get good grades. I worked hard to get to where I was, and Michelle was wasting her time in school, or so we thought." "I know," John grinned, "when you became Valedictorian, I was really proud. And so was your mom and dad." "I remember that too," Kate said, and went over to the mantel. She took her graduation picture down from the shelf. "Me, Mom, Dad and a sulking Michelle," she said. "I can tell Michelle is very angry," John said. "When Michelle married Chris," Kate continued, "I wasn't able to make it, because I had to work that day. Michelle never let me forget it." "She felt slighted, eh?" John asked. "Yes," Kate said, "I sent along a gift for Chris and Michelle, and Chris was grateful, but Michelle was not pleased." "Wow, sounds like you two are really estranged," John said sadly, taking Kate's hand. "I fear for a long time," Kate admitted sadly, "but when I try to reach out to her, she slaps me away." "She'll get over it," John said. "I can only hope so," Kate said, "I do love her." Meanwhile, at Jessica's house, Michelle is thinking of the same thing. "I still know that even though Kate can be a pain in the backside," Michelle said, "I do love her." "Then why did you slap her away when she reached out?" Jessica asked. "Does it matter?" Michelle said. "Yes, it does matter!" Jessica said, "Chelle, you and Kate are all you have left anymore. I don't like Kate myself, but she IS your sister." "Kate was always more into the family business than I was," Michelle admitted, "no wonder she was able to become executor." "So you do understand that now?" Jessica said. "Yeah," Michelle said, "I still don't like it, but I understand it." "So you think you and Kate can co-exist?" Jessica asked. "I think so," Michelle said, "there is no choice in the matter." Michelle pondered it. She couldn't stop Kate now, but she had to realize that despite her goody-goody sister, she WAS all she had left. I will give up, Michelle thought, at least for now. Category:Rainbows End